


A Mint Julep

by marreena



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Post-Chalice, Tres Horny Girls AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marreena/pseuds/marreena
Summary: “Yeah, yeah. Today just, you know, sucked.”The Chalice did suck. A lot, in Julia's opinion.





	A Mint Julep

**Author's Note:**

> i mean i guess i'm just gonna keep naming julup fics after drinks i guess

Julia is surprised when Lup walks into the Davy Lamp with only one braid singed off.

She holsters her wand and walks through with a prance in her step, weaving through the crowd, enjoying people clapping her on the back and thanking her for her service to the town. She winks at them and eats up all the attention thrown her way. Julia has to throw a hand over her mouth to cover her snickering, but Hecuba catches her and laughs too. Perched up on the horse that she demanded be her throne for the night, she kicks out a leg, catching her the shoulder. 

“Five coppers, Lupy ends up challenging another poor fuck to a duel,” she takes another gulp out of her mug and shakes her head as the dwarven ale goes down. Julia couldn’t imagine even drinking a full shot of the stuff, it was stronger than the tarnishes she used to work with. Still, Hecuba was somehow on her fourth mug. 

Something about dwarves, huh. 

Julia points at her, feeling her own alcohol drag her motions, exaggerating them, “There’s no way in _hell_ she still has spell slots. She’s kicked like twenty people's asses.” 

“You know, maybe the skeleton dude was right and she’s not human,” Hecuba hums and goes back to playing with the horses mane, a long forgotten braid is started in there that after about fifteen attempts of restarting it is still hardly finished. 

Julia tries not to think about what Kravitz said, or rather, pretty much any part of the encounter with him. Her heart still yanks the moment she does and really, she’d much rather focus on the bourbon and mint in her glass—or in her? When had she finished her glass? 

“Another?” Ren jolts her out of stupor, hand carefully on the glass in front of her, as if she knew she was five steps away from spooking her back to her room. 

She feels Lup stick to her side before she even speaks, her hand sliding across her back and over her shoulder to drag her in close to her much warmer body—something that Julia tends to enjoy, but with how hot Refuge already is and with how packed the Lamp is, it’s not the best thing at the moment. Julia’s debatably sticky with sweat right now and she doesn’t want Lup to feel that no matter how much she enjoys her arm around her. 

“Of course,” Lup answers for her and Ren grins and takes the glass away. With her entire body pressed against hers, she can feel how her body freezes as if her thoughts as just catching up with her. “What are you drinking? I hope it’s not that nasty dwarf piss.” 

Julia laughs and enjoys how Lup moves with her, “Course not. Mint julep,” she answers and Lup still wrinkles her nose at that. 

“ _Bourbon_? Ugh, why can’t you just drink tequila like the rest of us. Why do you have to be such an old dude?” and even as she says that, when Ren passes the drink back to her, she still takes the first sip. “I guess it’s not bad.” 

“Julep’s an acquired thing.” 

Hecuba snorts and continues to press her foot into her shoulder only to move it to kick Lup’s hand that’s curled around her arm, “Of course, but my people’s ale _isn’t_. I see how it is.” 

They both roll their eyes and Julia leans into Lup’s arm around her, “It’s hard to get used to _acid_ ,” she mutters and spins the straw in the drink so she can take a drink of it. 

Lup’s eyes are on her. 

There’s something there—there’s always been something there. Julia isn’t blind or ignorant. 

And maybe it’s the alcohol licking at her spine or the heat from Lup’s arm around her, but she drinks up  Lup’s gaze on her. 

It’s nice to feel wanted—especially by someone as pretty as Lup. Maybe it’s selfish, but Julia knows that she returns the look just as often as she does. She thinks, that maybe, whatever is between them, is mutual, and it’s about time that _whatever_  got defined. But, maybe that is selfish too.

“You good?” Julia asks, when Lup’s gaze doesn’t stray far from her lips around the straw, and _god_ , there has to be something in the air. 

Lup nods and orders a drink of her own, “Yeah, yeah. Today just, you know, _sucked_.” 

The Chalice _did_  fucking suck. 

And there’s a huge part of her that’s terrified of what she did, of how people will react to her now that they know that she would use a relic. That she _did_  use a relic. Only Lup and Hecuba know at the moment what happened, but she can only imagine the backlash at the Bureau. She doesn’t even want to think of how the Director will react. 

She was supposed to the backbone, she was supposed to be unfailing. 

She was—

“Yeah,” she murmurs and sinks even more into her chair at the bar than she is already.

Julia is spiraling, she knows that, but the shame and guilt is building up in her gut faster than she can down her drink. She knows Lup and Hecuba are sharing a look and they’re thinking about her, but she can barely even think at this point without the heart crushing and the pressure choking her. 

“I need some air, let’s go,” Lup announces and practically drags her from her spot, her almost done drink, forgotten. 

Hecuba dangles for a second on top of the horse, glancing around for how to get down, “I’ll be there in a second! After I get off this horrible thing… how the hell did I get on?” 

The cold air is nice against her overheated skin—Refuge gets real cold at night, something she never got to experience in all of her loops. Lup leads her to the side of the tavern and they both lean against the wall for a second. There’s scorch marks on the ground, no doubt from Lup’s duels that she had been challenging people to all night in traditional cowboy fashion. Putting the holster that Ren had made her to good use. She only watched the first couple—there’s only so many fireballs and magic missiles Julia can take. 

Lup’s hand finds her own and her thumb smooths over the skin there. 

“You holding up okay?” she asks, in a softer tone than her usual voice. 

_No_ , is what she should really say. Despite—or maybe because of—the alcohol in her system, she feels as though she’s one step away from shaking apart. She fucked up today, real bad. She almost doomed this world just because she couldn’t stand to let Raven’s Roost go. “No,” she says, not bothering to hide her discomfort. 

Lup instantly goes and leans against her. Her hat is a bit in the way, though, but she takes care of that and throws it in front of them. The phrase, _women want me, fish fear me_ , makes a small laugh bubble out of her and Lup squeezes her hand. 

“I’m, uh, I’m not too good at this so bear with me, Jul. Listen, today was bad, real bad. Bad enough that it’s gonna suck when we have to tell Lucretia what happened, but I’m with you and Hecuba is too. I woulda taken the chalice too if it had given me a good enough reason too—I’m just shitty enough, I don’t regret shit.” 

It’s hard for Lup, she can hear the hesitation in her voice as if she’s tripping over every word, not sure how to phrase anything anymore and maybe even uncomfortable in the current situation, but Lup still does this for Julia. She still stays unmoving and unwavering at her side even as Hecuba trips over her and sits in front of them—of course, a drink still in hand.

“Raven’s Roost _sucked_ ,” Hecuba adds and kicks her feet out to get comfortable. 

Lup snorts, “Yeah, that was pretty shit.” 

Julia laughs but her body shakes with a sob. The wound was fresh again and she hated it. Julia thought she had put it behind her. “Yeah,” she nods. “I just wish I could have saved them.” 

“I know, Julia. Fuck, I wish you coulda too, but we had to stop you. We had no idea what would happen if you changed the past,” Hecuba nudges her again and offers her drink.

Lup pushes it away and gives her a _look_  that Julia thinks about understanding but she’s suddenly exhausted having to talk about this. She’s avoided talking about this for a full six years and today she had to relive it _twice_. 

Lup clears her throat, “We also couldn’t lose you,” and god is her voice thick enough that Julia has to look up at her. She maybe expects her to be pointedly not looking at her, but it’s dead on. “Julia,” she says and she think she might just cry, “I mean, _I_ couldn’t lose you. You’re so important and we need you.” 

Hecuba coughs, standing up, and her eyes are soft even as she gruffly says, “I’m heading in for a refill, but if you two aren’t in, in ten, I’m sending Ren out with a broom.” 

Maybe it’s the fact that Julia is blinking away tears, trying not to cry, or that the way that they have still not separated from each other, but Hecuba leaves them be. 

“I just don’t understand why I get to live and they don’t,” she says and Hecuba’s footsteps stop as if she’s considering coming back to them, but then the door squeaks open. 

“Because you have to do _this_ ,” and Lup gestures to everything, or maybe just Refuge. “No one else could be doing what we’re doing, and I bet your ass if it were just me and Hek we could never have gotten this far. The past is fucked, but what you’re doing now is so much more important.” 

“Yeah,” Julia just laughs and rubs her hands over her face. 

“What?” Lup laughs too as if she can’t help it, she tugs on Julia’s sleeve to get her to look at her again. 

“Nothing, I’m just a dumbass still getting stuck on all this. Just a big, dumb fighter, but at least I have my smart—“

Lup elbows her, taking the hint that Julia was not ready to talk much more about it, “If you _dare_  call me the smart wizard, I’ll kick your ass. I’m dumb as hell.”

“Prove it,” she prods and sits up and Lup follows her movements. Some of her singed hair is falling out of the braid—she must have also burned the hair tie in the duel. 

Julia touches it, the hair already curled but now seared and frayed. She pulls one of her own ties off her wrist and redoes the bottom of the braid. They stare at each other for a moment, and it’s as if they just _know_. 

What had happened today, at Raven’s Roost—god not even just Roost, but also Lup’s family and Hecuba’s children—was years and years of keeping things in and then letting them spill out. Not ever telling anyone and keeping it all to themselves and letting that part of them _rot_. 

Right now and in the future, they’re not going to let that happen. 

Lup kisses her and all she can think is _finally_  and Lup totally finished off her mint julep without her looking. 

And maybe it’s a bit fast, but she chases her drink with her tongue into Lup’s mouth, but really if they think about how long they’ve been dancing around each other, it’s not _fast_. It’s the slowest Julia has ever gone and she was married to _Magnus Burnsides_ , a man who was nervous to kiss her before a  proper date even though they had been _living_ together. 

(As if her and Lup weren’t also living together.)

She smiles into each kiss and meets Lup’s own smile, a sigh from her own lips that say, _finally_ , over and over again. Lup’s hands are cupping her face—her own having wandered, resting on Lup’s waist, now playing with the holster there—as if her hands are there to keep her there. 

Like Julia would ever want to separate. 

Lup does, however, and leaves one last kiss on her lips. “How’s that for dumb?” she laughs and bumps her nose against her own, the joke playing on both of their lips. 

Julia falls into it with her and laughs, “Downright _stupid_ ,” and she kisses her again. This time, it’s closed, and just soft presses of lips, but Julia realizes just how many ways that they can kiss now. She pulls away, and before the alcohol had made her lips and practically her entire face numb, but now, every bit of her was tingling with warmth. 

She wanted to chase out every bit of numbness in her and replace it with _whatever_  her and Lup were. Completely wash out what she was and let her and Lup fill that void that Roost had carved out of her. 

She stands suddenly, swaying in the wind, and then holds her hand out for Lup to take.  “Listen, this atmosphere sucks, do you wanna dance?” she asks, teasingly. Joy dripping from her lips and humor from her cocked hip and tapping foot making Lup shudder. 

Lup takes her in for a second, brows tipped together before also shooting up and nearly losing her balance—Julia reaches out and steadies her. Lup leans into her arms, “Oh,” and her lips curl, playing, “so making out on a shitty, cowboy porch not your thing? You know I can think of other things that _suck,_ ” and she leans forward far enough that she can skate her lips on Julia’s jaw. 

_Oh_ , there were so many ways that they can kiss now. 

She giggles, and feels like she’s been reduced to a school girl, “It’s not _bad_ —“ 

“—But you got something better in mind, Burnbaby? It better be _hot_. You know I like things _hot_.” 

She leans forward and bumps her forehead against hers, “Oh, trust me it is. First, we’re gonna go in. Get a round of drinks. Maybe kiss a bit at the bar. Then dance for a bit—and maybe kiss there too.” 

Lup pokes her in the chest, “Oh, are you just gonna outline everything then?” 

She pushes her finger away and entwines their fingers together, “Mhm, we’ll probably dance for a lot—but I’m really bad, so maybe we’ll just kiss more. And then we’ll settle in one of the rooms in the back of the tavern—“ 

Lup pushes her a bit, “Let me guess, we’ll kiss?”

“Mhm,” she nods.

Lup laughs and presses a kiss to her lips, “Someone’s a little horny, huh?” 

She is. “Do you blame me?” 

Lup doesn’t. 

They do exactly as Julia laid out for them. 

It takes both of them putting forth their entire drunken effort to make sure that they do stay on track. Especially after the shot of gin that Ren gives them after they both spend nearly ten minutes discussing what drink to have.

Lup’s lips taste just as good with lavender-infused gin coating them as the bourbon from earlier. 

Lup takes the lead—it’s been years since Julia has danced and with the alcohol making her feet feel like lead, she doesn’t know if she can do it—and goodness does Lup make her swoon, despite the sweat on her hands. The heat of their bodies running into each other after drunkenly attempting to spin each other is so welcome that Julia makes them repeat the step three more times. 

They’re both still laughing as they retire back to their room in the back of the tavern. The exhaustion is just finally starting to lap at her heels and she drags herself as she unclothes—but not before _she_  can undo Lup’s new holster. The look that they share is full of heat, but it’s an empty dare. Too tired to do anything, they simply strip to their bare essentials and slip into bed. 

Not once has Julia let go of Lup’s hand, and in bed while they lay staring at each other on their sides, Julia brings their entwined fingers and kisses each one of Lup’s transmutation rings. Each ring glittering with their own stone, with their own purpose. 

There’s a promise in each kiss too, of another to come later when exhaustion has taken them. 

It doesn’t take long for the silence between them to be broken, however.

“Hey, you two aren’t boning in here, right? If you are I’m gonna be fucking impressed by your stamina,”  Hecuba shouts as she knocks the door open with her hip. 

Lup groans and buries her face in their hands, “Fuck off, Hek, we’re trying to sleep.” 

“No can do, horny dos, Ren only got us one room, so, uh, make room for Pan in between you two.” 

They barely have time to separate before Hecuba does in fact crawl into bed with them, positioning herself for Julia to spoon her. She laughs a little bit and obliged, putting her hand on her hip. “If you two were going at it, that’s fine. I know what it’s like to be in the honeymoon phase. I mean one time—“ 

“I want to sleep, not hear about you going down on a nymph,” Lup groans and pushes Hecuba, which in turn nearly pushes Julia off the bed. 

Even if she can’t see her face, Julia can hear the grin, “Of course, Lup, ever the _prude_. Not like you once told me about how the second you and Julia got together, you were gonna motorboat her to—” 

“Goodnight,” Julia presses. If she was not getting anymore kisses out of the night then there was no point in staying awake, quite frankly. 

There’s a pause in the rustling, and she thinks that just maybe that they’ll get some shut eye. “Uh, just one more thing, Julia.”

Hecuba groans, “If you two are gonna whisper sweet nothings, I’m gonna—“ 

“No! Ugh, listen, Julia, we’re your team and we’re here for you. You’re not in this alone. You’ll never be in this alone.”

It takes Julia a second as she lets the words settle, “You too, Lup.”

“You two aren’t gonna try and dick down while I’m in this bed, right?” 

“Fuck this, I’m going to sleep in Ren’s room.” 

**Author's Note:**

> hey.. please consider this ship... please


End file.
